Thursday, 23 February 2017

Iraqi police snipers take aim at Mosul ahead of key airport offensive

Iraqi police snipers take aim at Mosul ahead of key airport offensive

Akram
Mahsen, a 25-year-old Iraqi federal police sniper, squinted through his
scope at a black flag hanging limply a kilometre distant at
the Mosul airport. Beyond that lay west Mosul, the last major urban stronghold in the country held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
“This coming battle for Mosul will be between the snipers,” Mr Mahsen
predicted. “Snipers, plus car bombs,” a comrade lounging on the rooftop
next to him interjected.
The final chapter of the battle
for Mosul is expected to play out in the densely populated
neighbourhoods west of the Tigris River which currently demarcates the
line of liberation in the city. A trapped civilian population and tight
warrens of narrow streets are expected to make progress painstaking for
the Iraqi Security Forces. First though they'll need to retake the
airport.

AL-BUSEIF: Iraqi forces readied on Wednesday for an assault on Mosul
airport after blitzing militant positions in a renewed offensive to
retake the Daesh’s emblematic stronghold.Elite forces reinforced
positions that were taken since a fresh push south of Mosul was launched
on Sunday while hundreds of civilians fled newly recaptured villages.“Around
480 people displaced from Al-Yarmuk area are being transferred to
liberated areas further south,” the federal police said in a statement.Iraqi
forces have retaken a key checkpoint on the main Baghdad highway south
of Mosul and the village of Al-Buseif, a natural citadel overlooking the
airport and the south of the city.There were no major operations
near Mosul on Wednesday, with Iraq’s new interior and defense ministers
expected to visit the front lines.However Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular
Mobilization) paramilitaries continued to battle militants further west,
near the town of Tal Afar, which lies between Mosul and the Syrian
border and is still held by Daesh.The Hashed Al-Shaabi said in a
statement they blew up at least four car bombs in fighting near Ain
Al-Tallawi and killed several Daesh members.The elite
Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) that retook east Mosul and did most of
the fighting since the offensive on the city was launched on Oct. 17
have not yet been brought into action in the latest push.The
Interior Ministry’s Rapid Response units could also move in on the
airport in the coming days, a key target before troops breach the city
limits to face the militants in the narrow streets of Mosul’s west bank.Senior
US officials this week estimated there were only 2,000 Daesh fighters
defending west Mosul, suggesting Daesh had suffered heavy losses in the
first four months of the operation.The US-led coalition, which has
provided intensive air support as well as advisers on the ground, said
before the Mosul offensive began that 5,000 to 7,000 militants were in
the city.AFP reporters saw US forces moving into Al-Buseif on Wednesday in convoys of large military vehicles.The
fate of an estimated 750,000 civilians trapped in west Mosul was a
major source of concern as Iraqi forces prepared for what many have
predicted could be one of the bloodiest battles yet in the war on Daesh.Almost half of the remaining population are children, according to aid groups, and supplies are fast dwindling.“Daesh
fighters have seized all the hospitals and only they can get treated
now,” an employee at the Al-Jamhuri hospital in west Mosul told AFP by
phone.The health of many residents had been deteriorating for months.“Even before the hospitals were closed, locals had to pay Daesh sums of money they couldn’t afford,” the hospital employee said.Medical
workers and residents speaking from west Mosul on condition of
anonymity said the weakest were beginning to die of malnutrition and
shortages of medicines.Iraqi forces declared the full liberation of
the city’s eastern side a month ago but the situation there has remained
precarious, with the departure of CTS to the western front leaving a
security vacuum.Around half a million civilians stayed on in east
Mosul, making the screening process that would have been necessary to
prevent Daesh members blending in with the rest of the population almost
impossible.Several attacks have already been carried out in
“liberated” neighborhoods and on Wednesday, some residents found
threatening Daesh leaflets under their doors.“Warning! To all
residents and those present in the east side, you have to leave the city
as fast as possible. Staying exposes you to death and you will be a
legitimate target for the mujahideen,” the leaflet said.While more
than 50,000 of the 220,000 people displaced during the first months of
the offensive have returned to their homes, some people continued to
flee from retaken areas for fear of Daesh reprisals.